‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ goes number one on Billboard 100 chart
The song is from the animated film, 'Encanto,' currently streaming on Disney+.
Disney’s latest animated film, Encanto, has hit big with fans, and so has its music. One of the film’s songs, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” has become a surprise hit, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, becoming Disney’s first Billboard chart-topper in 29 years.
Before “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” the last song from a Disney film to reach number one on the Billboard 100 was “A Whole New World,” from the film, Aladdin, in 1993. Recorded by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle, the song won both the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Grammy for Song of the Year, awarded to songwriters Tim Rice and Alan Menken.
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” knocked Adele’s “Easy On Me” out of the top spot after 10 weeks at the summit. It mirrors “A Whole New World” replacing a number one hit from another Grammy-winning songstress, “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston, which was number one for 14 weeks.
It is only the second song from a Disney film to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. “Let It Go” from 2014’s Frozen peaked at number five.
The song was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the actor/songwriter/playwright behind Broadway hits In The Heights and Hamilton. He wrote eight total original songs for Encanto’s soundtrack, which is also number one on the Billboard 200 charts this week.
Miranda also wrote music for Disney’s 2016 animated film, Moana, including the Academy Award-nominated song, “How Far I’ll Go” (it reached number 56 on the Billboard 100).
Miranda is also the sole writer of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” meaning this is Billboard’s first number-one single written by one person since Ed Sheeran‘s “Perfect” in 2017. With little airplay, the song also became a hit almost solely from streaming. It received 34.9 million U.S. streams, compared to only 1.5 million radio airplay audience impressions.
Encanto is a film about the Madrigals, a Columbian family full of people with individual, extraordinary gifts living in their enchanted house, and how Mirabel, the only Madrigal without an extraordinary gift, discovers that the magic is leaving the house.
Bruno represents an outcast member of the Madrigal family, Mirabel’s uncle who possesses the power of clairvoyance. The song is sung by the film’s ensemble of Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, and Stephanie Beatriz, who plays Mirabel. The character of Bruno is voiced in the film by Emmy Award winner John Leguizamo.
Encanto is currently streaming on Disney+.
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